We create rules and guidelines in our businesses to help keep a certain structure and ultimately establish a best practices approach to serve our customers the best we can. At times, it’s important to remind our staff that the purpose of creating a rule or guideline isn’t for the sake of creating it. It’s for the sake of giving customers the best experience. The last thing we want to do when customers really need help, is to quote the rule or guideline back to them. This act can often make a customer feel like we are teaching them a lesson. I believe there is a time and place to break a rule or guideline. If customers truly need help, we should try to help them. If the project then need help with doesn’t fall directly within the time period we ask for, of if they need special help with a project that we don’t usually offer, the right thing to do is to still make an effort. Customers remember and appreciate when the person helping them goes above and beyond. In the end, it’s the right thing to do, since no set of rules or guidelines can take every possible situation into account.